Dumfries (22 page)

  “The best set-up wid be two each in the toon.  Wan fur daily deposits and operational access and the other fur transferring fae box number wan every three tae six months, tae centralise financial accumulations.  The wan elsewhere is yer long-term safety net.  Other than being used fur longer-term financial investments and planning, this is the wan that ye’ll use as back up if ye need tae disappear in a hurry.  There’s nae rules really other than don’t tell a soul that ye’ve goat them…especially priests and wummin,” she’d cackled, a wee twinkle in they accountant eyes ae hers.

  “It aw sounds kinda Goldfinger and aw that,” Jake hid breezed, as everywan nodded and smiled, as Donna explained how and where tae go aboot setting up the accounts.

  Tony hid been trying tae identify somewan fur a while, who’d front a property letting company he wanted tae set up, bit wis hivving problems finding the right person who’d the right business experience oan the wan haun and who didnae ask questions oan the other aboot where the money wis coming fae tae buy up the properties.  Donna The Prima Donna hid been his main target tae take oan that role, although Wan-bob hid telt him tae furget it as she didnae tend tae go in tae partnership wae crooks…too unpredictable she’d said.  Although she wis auld enough tae be his ma, or even his granny, tae see the pair ae them flirt and play wae each other wis better than gaun tae the pictures.  As well as convincing everywan tae commit themsels tae invest some money in any future jewellery shoap tae help Pat oot, Tony hid goat everywan tae chip intae a pool, amounting tae a twenty per cent stake in DIRTY JAKE’S BOUTIQUE, Jake’s up-market, trendy clothes shoap doon in Buchanan Street, jist up fae Fraser’s.  Donna The Prima Donna took care ae processing aw the paperwork fur a standard fee.  This smart move hid guaranteed Tony’s girlfriend, Kim Sui, no only a manager’s job, straight efter graduating fae Glesga School ae Art, bit jobs fur a few ae her designer pals as well.  Wan ae the benefits ae Jake blagging and dealing in tap ae the line designer gear, wis that the only people who could afford tae buy his stuff wur either gangsters, who everywan knew wur always ten years oot ae date oan the style front, due tae preferring black or navy blue Gieves and Hawkes suits, or the posher crowd fae the West ae the city, who wur awash wae aw the auld and new money.  In that mix, ye hid aw the STV, BBC and fitba crowd. Wae lots ae hard work and determination, alang wae that charm ae his, Jake hid managed tae tap intae the city’s young, trendy rich crowd who despite daddy’s obvious wealth, jist couldnae resist a bargain.  Tae start wae, a few ae these customers hid started encouraging Jake in the passing, while he wis oot and aboot oan his travels, flogging them the best ae knocked aff gear in their big fancy hooses across in the West End and oot in Loch Lomond, tae start thinking ae opening up his ain cool designer shoap.  Jake hidnae thought much aboot it until Tony’s girlfriend, Kim Sui, hid managed tae convince him tae come tae her and her fellow students end-ae-term fashion show.  The sight ae aw these trendy designer students prancing up and doon the catwalk hid blown him away and he’d been hooked oan the idea.  As fur Johnboy and Silent, they’d been only too happy tae chip in money tae help any ae the others tae set themsels up in legit business while expanding the furniture side ae things doon at street level.  It wis true whit people said aboot the first taste ae anything new, always being the best. Tony’s initial encouragement tae get everywan tae chip in four grand between them towards Simon’s ‘Carpet Capers Warehoose’ hid triggered everywan intae wanting tae be entrepreneurs.  Despite being an angry greeting basturt, Simon hid opened up the first, fully-fledged, official business amongst The Mankys.  Although everywan hid taken the piss oot ae him when he’d first made his announcement, everywan wis really proud that efter aw this time, a Manky wis crossing the road and becoming a bona-fide member ae the business fraternity.  The timing hid seemed perfect at the time.  Simon hid tons ae customers aw queuing up fur their flairs and stairs tae be covered in good quality carpets at an affordable price.  Carpet Capers Warehoose wisnae really a warehoose as such, bit a big shed, tucked up a lane, jist aff Shamrock Street, doon in Coocaddens, wae a big sign oan the ootside declaring that there wis a carpet business operating.  Tae gie him his due, Wan-bob hid even put in Donna The Prima Donna, tae gie Simon a crash course in bookkeeping tae help him oot in his first year ae operating.  This hid kept him straight oan how tae fiddle the figures by operating two bookkeeping systems.  She’d also hooked him up wae an honest crooked accountant that wid keep him right and make sure he didnae declare anything stupid that he didnae need tae.  It wis also well-known by those in the know that practically every square yard ae knocked-aff carpet that hid been blagged in the toon o’er the previous six months efter Simon set himsel up doon in Shamrock Street, hid passed through Carpet Capers.  The investment fae The Mankys and whit Simon himsel hid put intae it, hid allowed Simon tae dae the place up and buy some legitimate stock tae shore up the illusion.  Simon’s happiness always made everywan feel that every day wis a summer’s day, because it meant everywan didnae hiv tae listen tae his bloody greeting if things wurnae gaun his way.  The carpet business hid been daeing a roaring trade and Simon’s moaning and groaning hid been starting tae recede intae some sort ae bad dream until Silent hid gone and made a mess ae Wee Jimmy Tarbuck’s newly hung, cherry-patterned wallpaper.

“
Good evening.  My name is John Turney and these are the news headlines in Scotland tonight.

 
Scots families will share in the £20 million pound Thalidomide compensation award, the Secretary of State for Scotland, Willie Ross, announced in the commons today…

  A war of words has erupted again between Glenda Metcalfe, the city’s attractive young procurator fiscal and flamboyant, dynamic criminal defence solicitor, Graham Portoy.  Miss Metcalfe repeatedly accused some criminal defence lawyers in Glasgow of living off immoral earnings by taking advantage of loopholes
in the law to ensure their clients get off Scot-free, despite knowing full well that they are guilty.  Mr Portoy hit back by saying that Miss Metcalfe and her colleagues were responsible for filling Scottish prisons with the most vulnerable in society, despite knowing full well that they were innocent.

“Pot, kettle and black springs to mind,” Mr Portoy said on leaving Glasgow Sheriff Court today, after every client he’d defended, apart from one who’d been sentenced to three months, walked free from the dock…

  Teenage truancy is on the increase, particularly amongst young girls, education bosses told Glasgow Corporation’s Education Committee today…

  A retired science teacher is looking for volunteers to man his home-made rocket that he claims is near completion in his garage on Springfield Road, Bishopbriggs.  A neighbour, who didn’t wish to reveal her identity, claimed that this is the fourth shed that Mr Buxton has had to have rebuilt in the past eighteen months as a result of explosions that have caused fear and alarm in the vicinity.  A Police and a Fire Brigade spokesman have both confirmed that they have spoken to Mr Buxton, a retired science teacher, on a number of occasions and are monitoring his activity closely…

  Police were called to the National Assistance Board offices on Springburn Road this morning after a group of women became abusive towards counter staff they claimed were treating them like cattle. One woman, Marjory Smart, claimed that she’d had enough, after her and her elderly mother, who was already confused due to her dementia, had been sent between different floors and sections nine times in the one day and still hadn’t managed to get her mother’s claim sorted out.  After police arrived and calmed the situation down by evicting the troublemakers, the situation appeared settled and staff were able to process claimants application for assistance…

  A twenty-seven-year-old woman was found battered to death in a flat in Dennistoun earlier today.  Police have not yet named the victim, but police said that the injuries inflicted on the victim appeared to be consistent with a hammer or some other blunt instrument being used…

A father of five was remanded in custody without plea or declaration after appearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court today accused of strangling his wife after watching his football team, Glasgow Celtic, being beaten 3-2 by Rangers at Hampton Park on Saturday.  Neighbours reported that Robert Murphy arrived home drunk late on Saturday night and began assaulting his wife almost immediately after his arrival.  A neighbour phoned the police three hours later when Mrs Murphy’s screams stopped suddenly at one thirty in the morning at the family home in Millburn Avenue, Yoker…”

Chapter Twenty Two

Johnboy wondered when the wee nurse wis gonnae reappear.  The screws oan escort duty wur clearly no happy wae the developing relationship between her and Johnboy.  The wee nurse hid also by-passed the screw oan duty and delivered a card fae The Mankys in Dumfries.  He looked at the postage stamp.  It hid been posted in Glesga, so Tony must’ve goat Simon tae send it.  The card hid gied him his first run-in wae the screws since his arrival at the hospital efter Johnboy hid refused tae haun it o’er, despite threats ae losing mair remission.  The wee nurse hid also telt him that two people, fitting Simon and Ben’s description, hid been turned away by the screws the day before during the official visiting times.  It wis fair tae say that Johnboy wis taking full advantage ae his wee sojourn oot tae the hospital where the food and the company wur a lot nicer. The doon side wis hivving tae lie there and listen tae the shite being spouted by the screws.  Efter a really restless night where he thought he wis gonnae die wae the pain, he’d been wakened up by an argument between the two escorts who wur sitting, loudly chewing the fat, aboot their so-called knowledge ae the gangster scene in Glesga.  Tae hear them speaking ye wid’ve thought they wur up there wae the big-shots themsels.  An article hid appeared the day before in The Glesga Echo aboot who wis who in the so-called underworld back in the toon. The front page hid hid a black ootline in the shape ae a heavy set man who the paper claimed wis the current Mr Big, who Johnboy assumed wis either Wan-bob Broon or wan ae The McGregors.  The only time Johnboy hid ever clocked a real photo ae a big-time gangster in the paper hid been when they wur deid.  Up until Tam and Toby Simpson and Blaster Mackay hid been bumped, any reference tae them hid been clouded in Mr Big terminology and a misshapen black ootline that looked nothing like them.  Johnboy and the rest ae The Mankys always jist assumed that it wis because the journalists wid’ve been too scared tae publish their real identity.  Wance it wis clear that The Simpsons and Blaster wurnae guan tae reappear, their ugly mugs hid begun tae be plastered aw o’er the shoap. Although Johnboy could see the newspaper sitting oan the chair beside the screw o’er at the door, there wis nae way he’d lower himsel tae ask fur a read ae it.  Efter being woken up, he’d telt the pair ae them they wur talking a heap ae shite and that they should take their gibber elsewhere or shut the fuck up.  The fact that the racket hid attracted the attention ae the ward sister hid meant his protestations aboot the noise hid worked.  The shitey SO in the tackity boots, hid left a couple ae minutes later and the sole turnkey hid sat scowling at him in a huff wae an eight-hour shift aheid ae him, being ignored by the patient and the hospital staff, who’d be coming and gaun tae make sure the patient wis oan the road tae recovery.  Fuck him, Johnboy thought.  He shut his eyes.  He couldnae believe the amount ae sleeping he wis daeing.  The doctor said that it wid be like that fur a while.  He remembered reading an article in The Glesga Echo a while back before he’d goat huckled by the polis.  It wis the usual shite aboot how nothing happened in the toon withoot the say-so ae Pat Molloy, or as the paper referred tae him, The Big Man.  The article hid come oot roond aboot the time The Mankys and the lasses hid gone tae see ‘The Godfather’ at The Odeon, doon in Renfield Street.  The only thing that hid been right in the article hid been the fact that The Big Man wis the number wan big fish in Glesga.  The rest ae it hid been as false as the swagger and scowl that Snappy hid adopted efter sitting pishing they pants ae his, watching Marlon Brando and Al Pacino kill everywan in sight fur a couple ae hours in the picture hoose.  The real set-up and how things worked in the toon wis a lot different.  Wan-bob Broon, who did indeed run things since The Big Man, Pat Molloy, hid semi-retired tae Spain, wis the King Sausage, covering the west, north and the toon centre ae the city.  It hidnae always been like that.  The whole ae the north ae the city hid been absorbed intae The Big Man’s empire, efter Wan-bob Broon, wae a wee haun fae The Mankys, hid wiped oot Tam and Toby Simpson, two brothers who’d ruled Possilpark, High Possil, Balmore and Lambhill and Blaster Mackay, their closest ally, who’d ruled Milton wae an iron fist, oan their behauf fur the past twenty-odd years.  Wance the Simpson brothers hid been dealt wae, Wan-bob and his bunch ae happy bears hid systematically wiped the flair wae whit hid been left staunin.  No long efter the dust hid settled, Jo Jo Robson and Frisky Frank McKenna, The Simpson’s main right-haun enforcers, hid goat themsels sentenced tae life fur stabbing Joe McManus, a good friend and wan ae the original Mankys, tae death ootside The Princes Bingo Hall in Gourlay Street, Springburn.  The reason fur inflicting the damage oan Joe wis because he’d hid the cheek tae go oot wae Tam and Toby’s wee sister, Kate Simpson.  At least, that hid been the excuse The Simpsons hid used when they’d hid enough ae The Mankys trespassing oan whit they saw as their patch.  Joe’s murder hid been the last straw fur The Mankys.  While it hid been a terrible time fur everywan, it hid been Joe’s death that hid gied The Mankys the opportunity tae move up the ladder efter getting involved in shooting Tam Simpson and unfortunately, his social worker bit-ae-stuff-oan-the-side, as they arrived at their wee love-nest up in High Possil fur an early morning session ae ‘hide the sausage.’  It hid also been during this time, no long efter Johnboy and Silent hid been released fae Polmont Borstal oot near Falkirk, that the remaining remnants ae whit hid been wan ae the heaviest and maist notorious teams in Glesga, hid finally gied up the ghost.   Efter the demise ae the brothers, a few die-hard Simpson heavies that hid been left staunin, hid decided tae bump aff the main witness tae the stabbing and murder ae Joe McManus.  The witness in question, Harper Harris, wis a happy-go-lucky thief fae The Simpsons’ ain back yard ae Possil.  Efter failing miserably tae kill Harper by trying tae run him o’er wae a car, the daft assassins hid goat nabbed while dressed up as doctors in white coats and stethoscopes, trying tae smother Harper wae a pillow o’er his face up in Stobhill Hospital.  Big Bert Martin, Spencer Smith and some codger called Jackie Fraser hid aw been sentenced tae between eighteen and twenty wan years fur the attempt oan Harper’s life.  Before the fall ae The Simpsons, The Big Man’s operations in the north ae the city hid only covered Springburn, Colston, Sighthill, Balornock and Burmulloch.  The Big Man must’ve been well pissed aff wae aw the nonsense gaun oan roond aboot him, because at the same time as dealing wae Tam and Toby Simpson, he’d gone further and wiped oot another pain in everywan’s arse, Blaster Mackay, the scrap dealer kingpin, who’d ruled Milton and Lambhill like some auld despot oan behauf ae Tam and Toby Simpson since the mid-fifties.  The final closure tae aw this change hid come efter Toby Simpson, alang wae his driver, Bootsy Bell, who Silent hid shot in the arse a few years earlier, disappeared aff ae the face ae the earth, or in their case, fae Possilpark.  Their bodies hid never been found despite regular appeals fae Glesga’s finest through the newspapers and posters up oan post office windaes. Put simply, any criminal activity, anywhere west and north ae The Broomielaw, only happened because The Big Man allowed it tae happen.  

  Oan the other side ae the city, divided by the Clyde, wur The McGregor Brothers, or The McGregor Clan, as maist people referred tae them as.  Fae whit Johnboy knew, they wur nearly equivalent in power tae The Big Man, or tae put it another way, nowan wae any sense crossed them, no matter how hard they thought they wur.  The McGregor’s activity mair or less mirrored the business enterprises as The Big Man.  These enterprises included extortion, armed robberies, hijackings, brothels, scrap-metal, demolitions, bookmaking, loan-sharking and a whole dearth ae legitimate stuff like security guards tae keep the bizzies aff ae their scent. The crown jewel sitting oan tap ae the cake in the city though, hid always been the city centre.  Any up-and-coming team who wanted tae dip their smelly toes in that money puddle, hid tae go through The Big Man, or as wis noo the case, Wan-bob Broon. 

  The article that Johnboy hid read, aboot who wis who in the toon, hid stated wae authority that nothing wis allowed tae happen in the city withoot the nod fae a Mr Big.  Anywan wae any sense knew fine well that that wis pure shite.  Glesga wis like a big honey pot and everywan and anywan could basically thieve and extort tae their heart’s content.  Nowan in their right mind, certainly no The Big Man or The McGregor’s, wid dare go aboot telling aw the wee up-and-coming tickets in Glesga that they couldnae earn a dishonest bob withoot first getting the permission fae some Mr Big.  Christ, wan ae The Big Man’s redeeming features, and there wisnae many, wis that he’d always encouraged entrepreneurial enterprise, particularly amongst the up-and-coming young wans like The Mankys.  Like everything else in life, there wis always a danger ae a fly getting stuck in the centre ae the pile ae shite through gluttony if they wurnae too careful.  These wur the people who goat too close and took an uninvited bite insteid ae a whiff.  When something like that happened, such as wan ae The Big Man’s or The McGregor’s interests being infringed upon by some so-called liberty-taker, then there wisnae any court ae appeal tae get ye aff.  Crossing the invisible line could cost the transgressor anything between a broken leg or erm, up tae being tortured wae a blowtorch before being put in the back ae a scrap car doon in Greasy Jake’s scrapyard oan The Broomielaw and turned intae a metal cube efter the crusher hid been tae work.  Thieving basturts like The Mankys wur universally encouraged, bit as soon as anywan started making any real money, they could expect a visit fae either a representative ae The Big Man or The McGregor Clan, depending oan which side ae the river they operated in.  The victims wur then encouraged tae pay a non-negotiable cut, weekly stipend or, depending oan their financial turno’er, telt tae haun the business o’er and become junior partners.  Oan The Big Man’s side, a few slaps aboot the chops fae a couple ae his bears tae encourage dialogue wis usually followed through wae a wee period ae contemplation.   Further hesitation or too long ae a deliberation in agreeing terms wae yer new senior partner, usually ended up wae a demonstration oan the practical uses ae the latest blowtorch engineering technology doon at Greasy Jake’s.  How The McGregor’s dealt wae transgressors wis open tae speculation, bit Johnboy doubted if it wid’ve been a million miles fae The Big Man’s modus operandi. It wisnae aw doom and gloom fur inspiring gangsters though.  Underneath the watchful eyes ae The Big Man and The McGregor’s spies, there wur still relatively big-time gangsters, wae big teams behind them that wur allowed tae operate independently throughoot the city.  The Simpsons, Blaster Mackay, Jumping Jack Jacobs and Honest John McCaffrey wur good examples in the north ae the city fur any up-and-coming people wae a bit ae aspiration and drive. These erm-length associations wur only tolerated due tae partnerships in enterprise, family connections or friendships that went back tae the primary, secondary and approved school days ae the main players.  Fae whit The Mankys could work oot, these associations wur usually very difficult tae sustain and maist ae them ended in tears and wipe-oots, ten, even fifteen tae twenty years further doon the line, efter being uneasily tolerated aw that time.  It wis never an easy alliance, bit hey-ho, there wur plenty ae successful examples, should anywan want tae investigate and invest in the possibilities.  Since he’d been a wee snapper in short troosers, Tony Gucci’s aspiration hid always been tae be wan ae the big boys, minus the associate partnership part.  If anywan wis gonnae die efter being wiped oot further doon the years, it certainly wisnae gonnae be him. Even as a snottery-arsed apprentice, running aboot in the Toonheid, blagging cases ae Irn-Bru aff the back ae lorries up and doon Parly Road, Tony hid always made his feelings clear tae Johnboy, Joe McManus, Paul McBride and Silent aboot whit he thought ae Pat Molloy and the rest ae his bears.  Johnboy knew fine well that deep doon, Tony blamed The Big Man fur the death ae their wee pal, Skull Kelly, in a cabin dookit fire when he wis only ten-years-auld. The Big Man hid sold The Mankys a doo cabin that wis due tae be demolished tae make way fur the motorway a couple ae months efter they took o’er the ownership ae it back in 1965.  Tony’s logic wis that if The Big Man, through the Murphy brothers, hidnae sold the cabin dookit tae the boys, Skull wid’ve still been alive and running aboot Springburn, enjoying the fruits ae his labour wae the rest ae The Mankys. The fact that The Big Man knew aboot the impending motorway, bit hid still gone aheid and ripped The Mankys aff at that young age, only added tae the insult and hid spawned a mistrust and hatred ae Pat Molloy that knew nae bounds.  Mind you, the way Tony conducted his business, it wis essential fur aw their health no tae gie the game away when they hid any dealings wae The Big Man, Wan-bob Broon or any ae the other associates close tae them.  There wur exceptions though.  It wis very difficult tae hide their true feelings aboot the Murphy brothers, bit that wis tolerated by Wan-bob and his right haun man, Charlie Hastie, because it wis well-known that The Murphy’s wid waste Tony and the rest ae The Mankys the first chance they goat, so The Mankys kept well clear and made sure they wurnae caught oot bad-mouthing The Murphy’s behind their backs.

It wis wan ae these family and boyhood approved school ties tae The Big Man and Wan-bob Broon that hid been causing Simon grief…that and the fact that despite everywan agreeing no tae get involved in daeing dirty work fur Wan-bob, Silent hid fucked up big-style, by shooting Deck McGuiness in the side ae the heid in Wee Jimmy Tarbuck’s Chinese Laundry doon in Finnieston.

  Honest John McCaffrey ran wan ae the biggest new and second-haun shoaps in Glesga, dealing in washing machines, cookers, fridges, freezers…in fact, anything remotely connected tae kitchens and hoosehold appliances, Honest John wis yer man. No matter how big or wee, domestic or industrial, if it hid been engineered tae operate in a kitchen, Honest John could get ye wan.  He supplied hauf ae the hotels and hooses in Glesga wae aw their electrical appliances much cheaper than anywan else.  He even kitted oot aw the polis station canteens in the city wae knocked-aff gear.  As well as the shoap flair space and coonters lined wae white good stock, Honest John hid a massive parts department that flogged spare parts for any domestic appliance known tae wummin…vacuum cleaners being a particular big money-maker seemingly.  Johnboy’s ma and aw her pals thought Honest John wis the bees-knees.  There wis always a big advertisement spread in The Glesga Echo, The Evening Times and The Evening Citizen, practically every day and night, wae Honest John’s ugly mug smiling oot at everywan.  No matter whit time ae the day ye went in tae his vast three-storey shoap, there wur always groups…maistly wummin…haunin o’er untraceable cash-in-haun dosh fur some piece ae shite or other.  Snappy and Honest John, fur some strange reason, goat oan like a hoose oan fire.  Whenever they bumped intae each other in the street or when Honest John wis hissing by in his luxury Roller, he’d get his driver tae screech tae a halt before the windae in the back passenger seat wid slide doon.